Author's Notes:The person behind Syaoran in this story no longer has a meaning in my life. I realized that I have been blinded with his golden hair and gorgeous eyes and sexy voice – not to mention his phenomenal soccer skills. Sorry if that sounds bitter but wah. Anyway, that doesn't mean though that I shall not continue this story. As I've said last chapter, this is my new baby. I'm experiencing major writer's block in "Your Shadow". I apologize. In the meantime, please enjoy the latest installment of Unrequited Love. The title will still remain appropriate, take note of that, please.

Disclaimer:I don't own CCS.

Summary:Sakura suddenly likes who everyone likes, Syaoran Li. She thinks that they can never be together but that's because she always misses his eyes on her.

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Normal Point of View

They did not realize the gravity of the situation until they got back to school.

Their winter holidays were enjoyable and memorable at the same time. Almost every night, they would be talking over the phone about everything that they could possibly think about. If they would not be talking over the phone, they would be in front of their computers, chatting online. If they did not have their computers in front of them, their mobile phones would be tightly secured in their hands.

It seemed as though they could not get enough of each other. They met up whenever they would be available and just watch a movie and eat dinner afterwards. They were a regular couple to say the least. They have not gone past holding hands and kissing each other's cheeks though.

But as mentioned, they did not realize the gravity of the situation until they got back to school. They could be with each other with no problem at all when it was just the two of them. But in school? It was a totally different matter.

High school is a gossiping place. People would constantly be talking about them for sure. Most of all, when the most wanted girl and the most wanted boy in the high school population had taken each other.

They had not even spent time with Eriol and Tomoyo and those two people were their best friends.

As Sakura walked to her locker, Syaoran was already there with his opened locker. He looked up at her and sent her a smile. Sakura immediately smiled back and stopped by where he was.

"Good morning," he greeted warmly, reaching out to touch her hand but Sakura pretended to rub the back of her neck to avoid the physical contact.

Syaoran gave her a confused expression, wondering what he did wrong.

"I was thinking…" she trailed on.

"…to keep a low profile first?" he finished her sentence.

"Yeah," she slightly brightened up that he was on the same page as she was. However, she paused to examine him further. "I mean… if you don't mind. It's just…"

"I totally understand, Sakura," he assured her, nodding.

"Okay," her smile was back on her face and she proceeded on her own locker.

When she opened and closed her locker, Syaoran was no longer in the hallway. She figured he already set off to his class already. She looked at her watch though and noticed that there was still plenty of time before class.

While walking where she would meet Tomoyo that morning, she convinced herself that keeping a low profile about their relationship was a good thing for the meantime.

She did not want to be talked about on the first day back from winter holidays.

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When Tomoyo and Sakura sat on their usual table for lunch, it seemed as if they had not seen each other for the longest time. They were chatting as if they had not chatted that morning.

"Are you sure that sandwich is the only thing you're eating?" Sakura suddenly asked her friend.

Tomoyo took a bite from her chicken sandwich and only nodded.

Sakura found it unusual that Tomoyo was on a diet, if she really was. Tomoyo was the healthiest person she knew and someone who would never deprive herself from food.

"Tomoyo… don't tell me Eriol is making you conscious of your weight," Sakura then said.

Hearing that, Tomoyo almost choked on her food. She gulped her juice down and looked at Sakura incredulously. "What are you talking about?" Tomoyo asked her. "I don't feel that hungry at all, so I'm only eating a sandwich."

"And why don't you feel hungry at all?"

"Because I was eating cookies in my classes," Tomoyo replied simply but this only made Sakura look at her more suspiciously.

"Why would you be eating cookies during your classes?"

"Eriol gave them to me this morning," Tomoyo said. "I told him that I didn't eat breakfast so he bought me cookies and since I was hungry, I ate them during class."

"It's just funny," Sakura admitted, without the intention of making fun of her friend. "You guys are too sweet."

Tomoyo only rolled her eyes and continued eating her sandwich.

Just then, Syaoran's gang entered the canteen and settled on their usual table. It just happened to be across where the girls were sitting. Tomoyo suddenly had that dreamy look on her face when she had a glimpse of Eriol.

Sakura, on the other hand, could only glance at Syaoran and look away afterwards.

"We decided to keep a low profile for the meantime," Sakura revealed and Tomoyo could only gasp at that.

"What?!" she exclaimed.

"You heard me correctly, Tomoyo."

"Are you sure you made the right decision?" Tomoyo asked. Sakura was about to answer but Tomoyo stopped her. "Before you answer me, look there."

Sakura looked where Tomoyo nodded her head at. Currently, a girl boldly sat down with Syaoran's friends. No, specifically, a random girl boldly sat down beside Syaoran. Syaoran was clearly ignoring her advances but this did not stop her from fuming on her seat.

Her eyes were already narrowed and she was ready to walk up to the girl and slam her face on the table. Tomoyo's chuckle brought her back to earth and forced her to calm down a little.

"If people know about your relationship, I don't think girls like those would hang out with Li anymore," Tomoyo explained while Sakura intently listened.

"You can always begin being together in school more," Tomoyo suggested. "No one would complain if a hottie like Li is hanging out with you, anyway."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Everyone knows that Li practically gets whatever he wants, even the most unattainable girl in school," Tomoyo said humorously. "I meant unattainable in a positive way," she quickly added when she saw her friend glare at her.

"Okay, okay," was all Sakura could say about the matter.

After finishing their lunch, the two got up and got ready to leave the canteen. Before Sakura exited the canteen, she looked back and met Syaoran's eyes. He was smiling at her and she noticed that the random girl was no longer on his side. This caused her to smile back and to wave at him.

"Why are you smiling so much?" Tomoyo asked her, as they walked to their lockers.

Sakura only smiled more at her friend. She answered her in her mind though, because he was looking at me.

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When dismissal time came, Syaoran hurriedly went to his locker, in hopes to find Sakura there. They only had one class together that day and it was in the morning. The last time he saw her was lunchtime but he terribly missed her already.

However, he found no Sakura in the locker hallway. He waited for ten minutes but still no Sakura. He then remembered that he had soccer practice to go to. He was running late but he still wanted to see Sakura one last time before he goes home.

Does she have volleyball practice today?

He looked around the hallway and searched for any volleyball players but found none. Frustrated and impatient already, he walked out of the hallway and took out his phone. He dialed Sakura's number and growled when he heard her voicemail picked it up.

He was walking angrily to the gym and just hoped that Sakura's practice was in that gym where he checked in his gym bag earlier this morning.

And he was right. There were a couple of volleyball players already changed and ready to practice.

He casually walked just outside the girls' changing room and tried to call Sakura again.

Her voicemail picked it up again and he was more impatient than ever.

He didn't even care that he was really late for soccer practice now and that once he gets out to the field, his coach would yell at him and demand five more laps than the usual warm-ups.

Minutes later though, Sakura went out with some of her teammates. They were happily chatting about something and she was currently tying her hair back in a ponytail. She saw Syaoran standing there and slowed down her pace so her teammates would go ahead.

"Hey," she said cheerfully, putting her bangs to one side of her face. "Don't you have soccer practice?"

"Yeah, I do," he replied, his chest finally feeling a little lighter now that he had seen Sakura. "I just wanted to see you before I go," he revealed.

Sakura blushed at that and smiled a little. So this was what finally being with Syaoran felt like.

"You're sweet," she said amusingly.

"Sakura! Time to warm up!" someone called out.

Their heads turned to the person who called out and it was Hisashi, the guy who previously asked Sakura out. Syaoran looked at Sakura curiously, silently asking why he was calling her.

"Volleyball boys and girls are training together today," she explained briefly. "Since we just got back, the coaches thought they would start the training lightly."

Syaoran only nodded but could not stop thinking that it was a bad idea to leave Sakura with that Hisashi guy even if she would be with her teammates. That guy just had bad news all over him.

"I'll wait for you here later," Sakura told him softly.

As distinctively as possible, when Syaoran started walking away, he got hold of Sakura's hand and gave it a tiny squeeze before completely disappearing from the gym.

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Because he arrived late to soccer practice, the coach gave him a punishment of cleaning up all the soccer balls on the field and running laps around the field until the school clock would chime to six o' clock. It was barely five thirty.

It was a horrible punishment, the whole team thought. Syaoran was the captain, maybe that was why the coach was too hard on him for being late on the first day of training after the holidays.

He finished putting the soccer balls back on the rack in no time. When he finished it, he was glad that Eriol was still there, as if waiting for him.

"You waiting up for me, man?" he asked Eriol.

"No, I'm just standing there to tell you how stupid you are to be late on practice today," Eriol said mockingly. "What were you doing anyway?"

Syaoran sighed and decided that it would not hurt to tell Eriol. His friend would be making fun of him either way anyway.

"I wanted to see Sakura," Syaoran admitted.

Eriol only snorted and laughed. "Man, you do know you're hooked, right?"

Syaoran chose to ignore this because he already knew that.

"Oh yeah, you going up to the gym, right?" Syaoran asked. Eriol nodded. "Can you tell Sakura that I'll be done here by six? And leave the part that I'm being 'punished'."

"Sure thing," Eriol replied and left Syaoran.

Running for another thirty minutes sure would be tiring but Syaoran did not think about the fatigue he would feel later on. Who would have thought that he would be sore on the first day back from school? His coach already pushed him enough as a forward a while ago and now he was leisurely running for thirty minutes more?

Well, at least he did not give me a specific number of laps, he thought to himself. I can go at my own pace.

Syaoran was forever a positive thinker. Besides, he knew that he was at fault.

However, he was not regretting anything at all. He got to see Sakura, didn't he?

The sun was slowly setting and the sky was already changing colors. Syaoran was wearing his long-sleeves training shirt since the weather was still cold. He could feel the wind brushing upon his face and he was amazed how elated he was feeling at that moment.

For him, his life was going well. Truly going well.

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The volleyball teams finished their practice earlier than expected but the players decided to stay in the gym to play around a bit more. One of the people who stayed was Sakura who had a perfect excuse to wait for Syaoran to go up.

"Team who loses buys the winning team one Gatorade each tomorrow?" Hisashi suggested, getting ready on his side of the court.

"I agree to that!" Sakura answered on her own side of the court.

The game that was about to happen would be more exciting than the game before. The teams were mixed – boys and girls and their skills were pretty much even. The players had their own positions and everyone suddenly had a boost of competitiveness.

Sakura huddled her team first and Hisashi's team huddled his.

"Okay, guys, no one wants to buy then Gatorade, right?" Sakura began.

They then recapped who's playing in which position. Everyone then went to their respective places. Hisashi let Sakura's team serve first. Sakura was the first server but before she could serve the ball, someone called out her name.

He then leaned in towards her so that no one else could hear what he was going to tell her.

"Syaoran's still in the field," he said close to her ear. "He's going to be done by six."

"Oh," she said. She was suddenly curious why Syaoran would still be out in the field and Eriol was clearly done with soccer practice. "I can still wait for him. Is he the only one there?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"He doesn't want me to tell you, just ask him later," Eriol told her. After that, he left the gym.

Everyone was then looking at her curiously.

"What was that all about?" someone asked her.

She could only force a smile. "Eriol was just playing messenger," she said dismissively. "Shall we start now?"

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She didn't know how she could concentrate while being distracted on the fact that Syaoran was still at the field doing who-knows-what. Their team won by a landslide against the other team and she could not be more proud.

"You were the one who said race until 30!" one of Sakura's teammates said to a pouting Hisashi.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Hisashi said and tried to be a sports man.

Sakura, meanwhile, sat down on the bench and grabbed her water bottle. She stretched and gulped down her water. She glanced at the clock and read that it was only quarter to six. Syaoran would be done by six… Everyone was starting to leave the gym already… what excuse could she possibly think of to stay there longer?

"Hey, Sakura, you going yet?" Hisashi asked her. He already had his bag packed and he was ready to leave. Well, everyone was ready to leave.

"Yeah, soon," she replied. "I just need to fix my bag."

"Okay, we'll see you downstairs," the rest of them said their goodbyes to her and she politely waved at them.

She was not exactly lying, she needed to fix her bag and that she did. But she was done tow minutes later. There was still a lot of time before six o' clock.

Sighing and giving up, she took both of her bags and walked downstairs. But she did not go towards the exit. She bravely walked along the now darkened hallway as a shortcut to the field.

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Syaoran looked at the clock on his iPOD and smiled when he read that there were only ten more minutes of his punishment. It was starting to get dark now and he wondered if Sakura was still waiting for him. She didn't have to, but it would be nice if she did.

Before he knew it, the music in his ears stopped, marking the end of his punishment. He stopped running and fell on his knees. It was unfortunate that he stopped at the farther end of the field. He could have stopped in front of the benches but no… he had to stop where his water was far away.

Deciding to take a rest first and forgetting about water, he lied down on the grass and closed his eyes. He was trying to catch his breath and ease up his tired muscles.

Unbeknownst to him was Sakura had been watching him during his last eight minutes or so. She could just sit there where his bags were and stare at him from afar. Watching brought a smile upon her lips as it reminded her how much she used to watch him before. But everything's different now… She didn't have to stare at him from afar anymore.

"Kinomoto-san?" someone said from behind her.

She turned around to see who it was.

"Oh, hello, Coach," she said unsurely. It was the soccer Coach.

"What are you still doing here?" the Coach asked.

Sakura avoided his eyes and thought of an excuse immediately. But it wouldn't be so bad if she admitted that she was waiting for Syaoran, would it? She doubts that the Coach would gossip it around.

"I'm just waiting…" she trailed off. With that, she wasn't exactly lying. She could be waiting for her car for all he knew.

"I don't get you teenagers," the Coach gruffly. "I thought you don't want to be in school and yet here you are staying in school so late."

When Sakura didn't reply, the Coach sighed and continued. "Anyway… I need to get to that boy," he said, pointing at Syaoran who was still lying on the grass. "You don't think he's dead, do you?"

Sakura appreciated the attempt to make a joke so she laughed softly and shook her head. "I think he's tougher than that," she told him.

"I know but I'm not quite sure why he wants to test out his limits," the Coach said conversely. When Sakura gave him a confused look, he elaborated. "He was late. It was really disappointing. I hope the volleyball team had a good training today?"

Sakura only nodded and watched as the Coach approached Syaoran at the field. Syaoran slowly stood up when his coach called out his name. Sakura could not hear what they were talking about. She could only see Syaoran bowing and nodding. Finally, the Coach gave him a pat at the back and pointed where she was sitting.

From where she was, she was quite sure that she had seen Syaoran's tired face brighten. Really, she had to smile at that.

The Coach then waved goodbye to her and went straight to the gates.

Syaoran, on the other hand, despite feeling the soreness of his entire body… ran up to where Sakura was. If he had known that Sakura was there, he could have gone there earlier.

Sakura only stood up and grabbed Syaoran's water bottle. She handed it to him and demanded for him to drink first before saying anything.

"Pushed yourself hard enough yet?" she teased as he gulped down his water.

"What are you talking about?" Syaoran asked, still panting.

"You didn't have to wait for me a while ago," Sakura said, sitting down.

She then watched Syaoran wipe the sweat off of him with his towel and all the while, putting all his stuff back into his bag. He settled his towel around his neck and sat down beside Sakura.

Sakura looked as if she had freshened up already but she was still in her training outfit. The only thing she changed was her shoes.

"Well, you didn't have to wait for me now," was Syaoran's retort.

"It's different," Sakura pointed out. "No one's going to tell me to run for over thirty minutes for waiting for you."

Syaoran remained silent. Couldn't she just understand that he just wanted to see her?

"Syaoran…" Sakura moved closer to her.

"I'm okay, Sakura," Syaoran assured her, knowing that she was only showing her concern. "Running was nothing. Anyway, it's late. You really didn't have to wait for me. I thought you had gone home."

"Well, I wanted to see you before I go so…"

Syaoran could only smile.

"Can't get enough of me, huh?" Syaoran smirked, looking straight at her now.

Sakura only rolled her eyes but smirked afterwards.

"You can't get enough of me, either," she taunted.

"Because you're too damn adorable," Syaoran confessed.

"Aw, you're really sweet, you know that?"

"No… you're supposed to say I'm adorable, too," Syaoran said childishly, shaking his head for Sakura not getting where he was going.

Sakura only laughed and said, "Adorable isn't manly for you, though."

"Then how exactly do you describe me?"

She thought for a moment then remembered her conversation with Tomoyo before.

"You know… there's this word that I don't normally use," she paused, Syaoran listened on. "But I used it to describe you."

"It's embarrassing for me to tell you personally," Sakura said, fighting the blush that was already creeping up her face. "But let me assure you that it's a nice word that will definitely boost up your ego."

"Can't I at least guess?"

"Fine," Sakura replied, knowing that Syaoran would not give it up until he knew what it was.

"Sexy?"

If Sakura was drinking, she would have definitely choked on her drink. Her jaw dropped immediately and she looked at Syaoran curiously.

"You're a nice guesser," Sakura concluded then she narrowed her eyes at Syaoran in suspicion. "How did you know?"

"Because I describe myself as sexy," Syaoran explained. "I mean, if I do it, why not anyone else?"

"…you're egoistic and vain, too, by the way," Sakura added.

"But you love me just the same," his playful smirk was evident on his face.

"Uh huh, true that," the two high-fived and laughed together like the cute couple that they are.

The sun had almost disappeared from the sky but the two figures could still be seen on the benches at the field. They stayed there for a while longer, just talking about random things until Touya called Sakura to go home already.

However, they were not the last ones in the school. Someone came back to the school, concerned about Sakura by herself in the gym minutes before and had seen the interaction between the couple.

"So Li was really the reason why you said no to me, Sakura?" Hisashi's words were only heard by the wind.

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Author's Notes:You like the chapter? I ended the last bit with Sakura and Syaoran to show how the two are very comfortable with each other. But does that just happen when the two of them are alone? Hehe, that's something to think about. And, I know I said this is going to be a short story but I'm really enjoying writing it so I might make it a longer. Writing this chapter has made me realize that I am a spontaneous writer. You don't know how many scenes just popped into my head. That's all for now. Still waiting for Behind Bars and Your Shadow updates? Don't worry, they're next on my list.

Thanks for all the reviews, alerts and faves. Please review this one, too!

May you all have an awesome new year ahead. ;)

xxDEVILZ CHIK

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.